ACI Dubrovnik Dubrovnik: Beauty and Grandeur

Among the many towns in the world, Dubrovnik is one of those that have best preserved their town walls and their Old Towns – the historical hearts of the
towns.
This poetic and lustily singing town, encased by
a shell of strong walls is a magnet that today attracts
tourists and the world elite. To be in Dubrovnik, in
a town protected by the UNESCO, during summer
is today a matter of prestige. Especially during the
famous Dubrovnik Summer Festival that offers rich
cultural events. Because a theatre festival is also a part
of the Dubrovnik tradition.
By filling in the shallow seawaters after one of the
destructive earthquakes, the town on a cliff and the
dubrava (original name for an oak forest) were put
together and became a single unite. There where the
sea was filled in, stands today Stradun, a street that
you have to walk through if you really want to feel
the atmosphere of Dubrovnik and to be completely
sucked up by.
There are no splendid palaces in Dubrovnik. The
Prince’s Palace with its decorations only hints at
how rich this town once was. The public wells and
fountains are encased in bricks and decorated only
by an occasional relief. And Dubrovnik was one of the
richest towns in the Mediterranean! But, the town was
afraid that if it flaunts its wealth it would lose the most
precious and important thing it had – its freedom!
Without freedom there could be no trade. And trade
was what Dubrovnik made its living from. Dubrovnik
kept its freedom from 1358 to 1808 and was, beside
Venice, the only town-state in the Adriatic.
Today Dubrovnik lives from tourism. You should
definitely visit the Princes Palace, the Cathedral with
its rich treasury and the Church of St. Blaise, built after
the patter of the Venetian churches. The Franciscan
monastery with the oldest pharmacy in Europe
still open to the inhabitants of Dubrovnik is also an
interesting site to visit.
You should also visit the excellent restaurants or make
a break after long sightseeing tours by taking a coup
of coffee on one of the terraces in Stradun – the main
artery of this world-famous cultural monument.